Bethel-based National Guard aviators and local emergency medical personnel rescued four stranded boaters near the lower Yukon community of Kotlik on May 20.
The boaters had been reported overdue in a remote area around 160 miles northwest of Bethel, in the lower Yukon Delta.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 (CW3) Colten Bell is an Alaska Army National Guard pilot who flew on the mission. He said that it seemed like breakup conditions had stranded the boaters.
“The wind had been blowing pretty good, and a lot of sea ice was actually pushed up against the shore,” Bell said. “So it looked like they had stopped in there, and then the sea ice all blew in and then there's no way for them to get back out of where they were.”
A Black Hawk team from Bethel, two emergency medical service personnel from the Bethel Fire Department, and an Alaska State Trooper based in Emmonak joined in the aerial search.
Bell said that it was a quick search because the boaters were prepared.
“They had either given grid coordinates or sent grid coordinates, so we knew within about half a mile exactly where they were,” Bell said. “And this is one of the main reasons why we always tell everybody to either have an inReach or that satellite service to where they can communicate. And the quicker we can get, like, exact grid coordinates or, like, a smaller search location, the easier and quicker we're able to get to people.”
Once the four boaters were found, the team transported them safely back to Kotlik. Bell said that none of the boaters required medical attention.
